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At the
outbreak of the Great Northern War the Danish-Norwegian army consisted of 36
000 men. Although it was actually two separate armies with very distinct
characters. The 23 000 men strong Danish army consisted at this time almost
exclusively of enlisted men, mostly Germans. The 13 000 men strong Norwegian
army was on the other hand, with the exception of a few regiments, recruited
by conscription and consisted of ethnic Norwegians.
Denmark
invaded Sweden's ally Holstein-Gottorp in the spring of 1700 but was forced
already in August to sue for peace after a Swedish army had landed on
Zealand. The now idle Danish troops were then hired out in great numbers to
Austria and the Maritime powers (1702-1709 respectively 1701-1714) for
participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. In total almost 20 000 men
were sent to foreign service. Parts of that sum were new regiments raised
specifically for that purpose. The shortage of troops to defend Denmark
against possible Swedish attacks were however so great that a 17 000 men
strong national militia was raised by conscription. Several of these
national regiments, together with troops returning from Austrian service in
1709, were then fielded when Denmark resumed the war against
Sweden. But the national militia, which consisted of ethnic Danes, was also
used as a manpower reserve to fill vacancies in the enlisted regiments,
which meant that the Danish army had a more mixed composition during the
latter part of Great Northern War than the year 1700.
Denmark-Norway's second participation in the Great Northern War (1709-1720)
was more successful than the first. But the Danes still suffered humiliating
defeats in the battles of Helsingborg 1710 and Gadebusch 1712.
Together with their allies they managed however to capture Stenbock's
Swedish army in Tönningen and occupy Sweden's German possessions as well as
annexing the Schleswig part of Holstein-Gottorp. The Norwegian army was not
involved in any major battles but it saw action in sieges and campaigns on
both sides of the Swedish-Norwegian border. The most famous was Charles XII's Norwegian
campaign of 1718 which ended with his death. Eventually a peace treaty was
signed 1720 with no border changes.
The table
below records which campaigns the various Danish-Norwegian regiments
participated in. The letters mark battles (normal style) and sieges (italic style), and
the colours show which theatre of war the regiment was deployed in each year
according to the following system:
|
In the Maritime Power's
Service |
Denmark |
Norway |
Sweden |
In Saxon service |
? |
|
In the Emperor's
Service |
Schleswig-Holstein, Oldenburg |
Bremen-Verden, Mecklenburg, Pomerania |
B = Blenheim
D = Dynekilen
F = Fredrikssten
G = Gadebusch |
H = Humlebæk (1700), Helsingborg
(1710)
M = Malplaquet (1709), Marstrand (1719)
O = Oudenaarde
R = Ramillies |
S = Stade (1712), Stralsund (1715)
Se =
Stresow
T = Tönning
W = Wismar |
|
= Danish men,
= Norwegian men,
= more than 60 % Germans,
= even distribution of Germans & Scandinavians (1720-1726) |
In the
case of Livgarden til Fods and Fynske Regiment the table above give a too
simplified picture of their deployment 1701-1714. Both regiments had three battalions,
but only one each were in Anglo-Dutch service. The others remained in the
homeland and participated in the campaigns against Sweden. The battalions in
Anglo-Dutch took no part in these campaigns since they did not return to Denmark
until 1714. In other word it was not the same guardsmen in Livgarden til
Fods who fought in the battles of Malplaquet 1709 and Helsingborg 1710.
A separate page details the exact composition of the
auxiliary corps sent to the Maritime Powers, the
Emperor and Saxony. |
|
The War of
1700
The problem of charting the movements of a regiment when it consisted of
three battalions is also illustrated by the short war in 1700. The
battalions were then often in different places, which is reported below.
The Norwegian troops not mentioned were in Norway. The two enlisted
Norwegian infantry regiments were ordered in July to be shipped over to
Denmark. But bad winds prevented them from doing this and the Peace of
Traventhal was concluded on 18 August (Gregorian calendar) before they had
time to leave Norway.
Two dragoon regiments that were raised in 1700 and which would later become
the "Hungarian Dragoon Regiment" did not manage to be completed before the
conclusion of the peace treaty. After the peace, one was stationed in Schleswig-Holstein
and the other in Zealand before being transferred to Saxony as part of an
auxiliary corps in October. Even the newly established cuirassier regiment,
which would later be named "Würtenbergquot;, was not ready in time and was
then relocated to Schleswig-Holstein.
| Field Army in Schleswig
(ca 11 000 – 12 000 men) First Jyske Cavalry Regiment
Second Jyske Cavalry Regiment
Fourth Jyske Cavalry Regiment
Livgarden til Fods – 3 battalions + 2 grenadier companies
Dronningen – 2 battalions + 2 grenadier companies
Prince Christian – 1 battalion + 1 grenadier company
Prince Georg – 3 battalions + 1 grenadier company
Jyske – 1 battalion + 1 grenadier company
Fynske – 2 battalions + 1 grenadier company
Schack – 1 battalion + 1 grenadier company
Holstein Artillery Corps – 5 companies
Danish Artillery Corps – 1 company (Nyborg
& Fredericia) |
Observation Corps in Holstein Livregiment til hest
Oldenborg (Holsteins) Cuirassier Regiment
Third Jyske Cavalry Regiment
Fifth Jyske Cavalry Regiment
Second Fynske Cavalry Regiment
Livregiment Dragoons
Holstein Dragoon Regiment
Prince Carl – 2 battalions + 1 grenadier company
Sjællandske – 1 battalion + 1 grenadier company
Jyske – 1 battalion
21 artillerymen |
|
Garrison Troops on Zealand First Sjællandske
Cavalry Regiment
Second Sjællandske (to Jutland in April, to Schleswig in June)
Third Sjællandske Cavalry Regiment
Kronborg Castle (Helsingør)
Sjællandske – 1 battalion
Danish Artillery Corps – 1 company (Kronborg)
Copenhagen
Livgarden til hest (2 squadrons to Schleswig in June)
Drabantgarden
Prince Christian – 2 battalions
Sjællandske – 1 battalion
Schack – 1 battalion
City Militia – 10 companies
Danish Artillery Corps – 4 companies
Transferred from the Navy after the landing in Humlebæk:
Marine Regiment – 16 companies
Vesterlenske – 6 companies
Bergenshus – 5 companies
Korsør – One company from Fynske and a few artillerymen. |
Garrison Troops in Holstein
First Fynske Cavalry Regiment
Rendsburg
Jyske – 4 companies
Prince Carl – 2 companies
21 artillerymen.
Added in May (from the field army?):
Fynske – 2 companies
Schack – 1 company Friedrichsort
Jyske – 2 companies
Prince Carl – 2 companies
7 artillerymen Glückstadt
Dronningen – 6 companies
Prince Carl – 2 companies
12 artillerymen
In May, Prince Carl's 2 companies were transferred to the Observation Corps and in return the garrison received 5
companies from the field army (3 Prince Georg, 1 Prince Christian and 1 Sjællandske).
Hitler redoubt – One free company and 3 artillerymen
Steinburg redoubt – 30 commandeered men.
|
|
Garrison Troops on Fyn
Nyborg – 3 companies from Fynske and a few artillerymen. |
Garrison Troops on Jutland
Hals & Fladstrand – One free company and
14 artillerymen
Fredericia – 2 (?) companies from
Fynske (one was transferred to the field army in June)
Second Sjællandske was transferred to North Jutland in
April and then to the duchy of Schleswig in June. |
|
Garrison Troops in Oldenburg Oldenborgske Battalion – 6 companies
Holstein Artillery Corps – 1 company |
|
|
References
MacDowall, Simon. Malplaquet 1709 - Marlborough's Bloodiest Battle.
Oxford (2020)
McNally, Michael. Ramillies 1706 - Marlborough's tactical masterpiece.
Oxford (2014)
Stille, Arthur. Kriget i Skåne 1709-1710.
Stockholm (1903)
Tincey, John. Blenheim 1704 - The Duke of Marlborough's Masterpiece.
Oxford (2004)
Tuxen, A. P. – With-Seidelin C. L. Bidrag til den store nordiske krigs historie. Copenhagen (1899-1934)
Vaupell, Otto. Den danske hærs historie til nutiden og den norske hærs
historie indtil 1814. Copenhagen (1872-1876) |
POWs)
